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FXCM vs Interactive Brokers 2019
Is FXCM better than Interactive Brokers? After assessing forex brokers on nearly 100 different variables, FXCM is better than Interactive Brokers. While its range of tradeable markets is narrow, FXCM caters well to high-volume traders, algorithmic traders, and traders that appreciate robust charting tools and quality market research.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
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Overall Rating
| Feature | FXCM | Interactive Brokers |
| Overall | ||
| FXCM Review | Interactive Brokers Review | |
| 74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money | 63.5% of retail CFD accounts lose money |
Regulation
| Feature | FXCM | Interactive Brokers |
| Trust Score | 90 | 91 |
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Year Founded |
1999 | 1977 |
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Publicly Traded (Listed) |
Yes | Yes |
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Bank |
No | No |
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Tier-1 Licenses |
3 | 5 |
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Tier-2 Licenses |
2 | 0 |
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Tier-3 Licenses |
0 | 0 |
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Authorised in the European Union |
Yes | Yes |
Tier-1 Licenses
| Feature | FXCM | Interactive Brokers |
|
ASIC Authorised (Australia) |
Yes | No |
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IIROC Authorised (Canada) |
Yes | Yes |
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SFC Authorised (Hong Kong) |
No | Yes |
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FSA Authorised (Japan) |
No | Yes |
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MAS Authorised (Singapore) |
No | No |
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FINMA Authorised (Switzerland) |
No | Yes |
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FCA Authorised (UK) |
Yes | Yes |
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CFTC Registered (USA) |
No | Yes |
Tier-2 Licenses
| Feature | FXCM | Interactive Brokers |
|
CBRC Authorised (China) |
No | No |
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CySEC Authorised (Cyprus) |
No | No |
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ISA Authorised (Israel) |
Yes | No |
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FMA Authorised (New Zealand) |
No | No |
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CBR Authorised (Russia) |
No | No |
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FSB Authorised (South Africa) |
Yes | No |
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SEC Authorised (Thailand) |
No | No |
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DFSA / Central Bank Authorised (UAE) |
No | No |
Tier-3 Licenses
| Feature | FXCM | Interactive Brokers |
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FSC Authorised (British Virgin Islands) |
No | No |
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FSC Authorised (Mauritius) |
No | No |
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Offshore Authorised |
No | No |
Investments
| Feature | FXCM | Interactive Brokers |
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Forex: Spot Trading |
Yes | Yes |
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Currency Pairs (Total Forex pairs) |
39 | 115 |
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CFDs - Total Offered |
24 | 6100 |
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Cryptocurrency traded as actual |
No | No |
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Cryptocurrency traded as CFD |
Yes | Yes |
| Offering of Investments | ||
| Winner | check_circle |
Cost
| Feature | FXCM | Interactive Brokers |
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Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard |
1.3 (as of Apr -Jun 18) | N/A |
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All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active |
0.8 (as of Nov 18) | N/A |
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Active Trader or VIP Discounts |
Yes | Yes |
| Commissions & Fees | ||
| Winner | check_circle |
Funding
| Feature | FXCM | Interactive Brokers |
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Minimum Initial Deposit |
$0.00 | $0 |
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Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) |
Yes | Yes |
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Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) |
Yes | No |
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PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) |
No | No |
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Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) |
Yes | No |
Trading Platforms
| Feature | FXCM | Interactive Brokers |
|
Proprietary Platform |
Yes | Yes |
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Desktop Platform (Windows) |
Yes | Yes |
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Web Platform |
Yes | No |
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Social Trading / Copy-Trading |
Yes | No |
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MetaTrader 4 (MT4) |
Yes | No |
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MetaTrader 5 (MT5) |
No | No |
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cTrader |
No | No |
Trading Tools
| Feature | FXCM | Interactive Brokers |
|
Virtual Trading (Demo) |
Yes | Yes |
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Alerts - Basic Fields |
Yes | Yes |
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Watchlists - Total Fields |
7 | 300 |
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Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) |
51 | 121 |
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Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) |
31 | 9 |
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Charting - Trade From Chart |
Yes | Yes |
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Charting - Drawings Autosave |
Yes | Yes |
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Order Type - Trailing Stop |
Yes | Yes |
| Platform & Tools | ||
| Winner | check_circle |
Mobile Trading
| Feature | FXCM | Interactive Brokers |
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Android App |
Yes | Yes |
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Apple iOS App |
Yes | Yes |
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Trading - Forex |
Yes | Yes |
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Trading - CFDs |
Yes | Yes |
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Alerts - Basic Fields |
Yes | Yes |
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Watch List |
Yes | Yes |
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Watch List Syncing |
Yes | Yes |
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Charting - Indicators / Studies |
30 | 68 |
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Charting - Draw Trend Lines |
Yes | No |
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Charting - Trend Lines Moveable |
Yes | No |
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Charting - Multiple Time Frames |
Yes | Yes |
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Charting - Drawings Autosave |
Yes | Yes |
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Forex Calendar |
Yes | No |
| Mobile Trading | ||
| Winner | check_circle |
Research
| Feature | FXCM | Interactive Brokers |
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Daily Market Commentary |
Yes | No |
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Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) |
Yes | Yes |
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Weekly Webinars |
Yes | No |
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AutoChartist |
No | No |
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Trading Central (Recognia) |
Yes | Yes |
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Delkos Research |
No | No |
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Social Trading / Copy-Trading |
Yes | No |
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Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs |
Yes | No |
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Economic Calendar |
Yes | Yes |
| Research | ||
| Winner | check_circle |
Education
| Feature | FXCM | Interactive Brokers |
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Has Education - Forex |
Yes | Yes |
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Has Education - CFDs |
No | Yes |
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Client Webinars |
Yes | Yes |
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Client Webinars (Archived) |
Yes | Yes |
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Videos - Beginner Trading Videos |
Yes | No |
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Videos - Advanced Trading Videos |
Yes | Yes |
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Investor Dictionary (Glossary) |
Yes | Yes |
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Tutorials/Guide (PDF or Interactive) |
Yes | Yes |
| Education | ||
| Winner | check_circle |
Major Forex Pairs
| Feature | FXCM | Interactive Brokers |
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GBP/USD |
Yes | Yes |
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USD/JPY |
Yes | Yes |
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EUR/USD |
Yes | Yes |
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USD/CHF |
Yes | Yes |
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USD/CAD |
Yes | Yes |
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NZD/USD |
Yes | Yes |
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AUD/USD |
Yes | Yes |
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USDCNH (or CNHUSD) |
Yes | Yes |
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USDSGD (or SGDUSD) |
Yes | Yes |
Overall
| Feature | FXCM | Interactive Brokers |
| FXCM Review | Interactive Brokers Review | |
| Overall | ||
| Winner | check_circle |
After spending several months and hundreds of hours researching 28 different forex brokers for trading FX, our team at ForexBrokers.com team collected over 2,200 data points. For this review, we will compare FXCM vs Interactive Brokers.
To compare these two FX brokers, we will first take a look at the fees charged for trading (no easy task). Not every forex broker publicizes their average spreads, spreads data can vary, as can execution policies and how commissions are charged. Specifically, is the broker a dealing desk (market maker), no dealing desk (agency broker) or are both execution methods offered (dealing desk + STP/ECN)? To simplify this research, we assessed everything for you and provide a single star rating for cost. Interactive Brokers's score is 4.00 stars versus FXCM's 3.50 stars.
Commissions and fees aside, let's take a look at regulation and currency availability. Trust is critical, and you should highly consider choosing a broker that regulated in a major hub. FXCM and Interactive Brokers both are regulated in a major hub. FXCM and Interactive Brokers are publicly traded companies. As far as how many currency pairs are available for trading, here's the answer. Interactive Brokers boasts an offering of 115 different currency pairs compared to FXCM's 39 available pairs.
Next, let's look at the tools and features fx traders desire. With trading platforms, forex traders are all familiar with MetaTrader. FXCM offers Meta Trader while Interactive Brokers does not. Regardless of the trading platform you use, charting should be feature rich. To help compare these two brokers, we counted the number of drawing tools and total technical indicators made available. FXCM offers its clients access to 31 charting tools while Interactive Brokers has 9 charting tools, a difference of 22. Interactive Brokers offers its clients access to 121 different indicators (for example, volume) while FXCM has 51 available indicators, a difference of 70.
FXCM Review
Interactive Brokers Review
To compare these two FX brokers, we will first take a look at the fees charged for trading (no easy task). Not every forex broker publicizes their average spreads, spreads data can vary, as can execution policies and how commissions are charged. Specifically, is the broker a dealing desk (market maker), no dealing desk (agency broker) or are both execution methods offered (dealing desk + STP/ECN)? To simplify this research, we assessed everything for you and provide a single star rating for cost. Interactive Brokers's score is 4.00 stars versus FXCM's 3.50 stars.
Commissions and fees aside, let's take a look at regulation and currency availability. Trust is critical, and you should highly consider choosing a broker that regulated in a major hub. FXCM and Interactive Brokers both are regulated in a major hub. FXCM and Interactive Brokers are publicly traded companies. As far as how many currency pairs are available for trading, here's the answer. Interactive Brokers boasts an offering of 115 different currency pairs compared to FXCM's 39 available pairs.
Next, let's look at the tools and features fx traders desire. With trading platforms, forex traders are all familiar with MetaTrader. FXCM offers Meta Trader while Interactive Brokers does not. Regardless of the trading platform you use, charting should be feature rich. To help compare these two brokers, we counted the number of drawing tools and total technical indicators made available. FXCM offers its clients access to 31 charting tools while Interactive Brokers has 9 charting tools, a difference of 22. Interactive Brokers offers its clients access to 121 different indicators (for example, volume) while FXCM has 51 available indicators, a difference of 70.
FXCM Review
Interactive Brokers Review
Trading CFDs, FX, and cryptocurrencies involves a high degree of risk. All providers have a percentage of retail investor accounts that lose money when trading CFDs with their company. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money and whether you understand how CFDs, FX, and cryptocurrencies work. All data was obtained from a published web site as of 02/18/2019 and is believed to be accurate, but is not guaranteed. The ForexBrokers.com staff is constantly working with its online broker representatives to obtain the latest data. If you believe any data listed above is inaccurate, please contact us using the link at the bottom of this page.
